Railroad car



A. E. SMITH Oct. 18, 1927.

RAILROAD CAR Filed June 4. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l WEE U .3 A m vu Hm NM INVENTOR.

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Oct. 1927- A. E. SMITH RAILROAD CAR 2 Sheets-Shet 2 Filed June 4, 1925 O Nu INVENTOR. 6 v

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Patented Oct. 18, 1927.

UNITED STATES 1,645,626 PATENT OFFICE.

ABRAM E. SMITH, OF HUGUENOT PARK, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO UNION TANK CAR COMPANY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

RAILROAD GAR.

Application filed June 4, 1925. "Serial No. 84,760.

My present invention relates to railroad cars, and particularly tank cars of the wellknown type, and has for its object the 1mprovement and cheapening of the construction'of the under-frame of such cars.

My invention will be best understood from the following description and the annexed drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation, more or less diagrammatic, of a tank car to which my invention has been applied; Fig. 2 is a plan View of the car shown'in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the under-frame of the car shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and embodying my invention; Fig. 1 is a side viewof the arrangement shown-in Fig. 3 with a portion thereof broken away along its longitudinal center line; Fig. 5 is a section of Fig. 3 on line 5 -5; Fig. 6 is a section on an enlargedscale on the line 66 of Fig. 8, and Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7,.7 of Fig. 3.

Like reference characters indicate like parts in the several views.

In the illustrative embodiment of my 1nvention shown in the drawings, the tank car has the usual tank 10 supported on trucksat either end, and is, of course, provided with the usual coupler and draft gear, but since these arrangements are no part of my present invention, description thereof will be unnecessary to those skilled in the art.

The car is provided with a center sill 11 which is tubular in form. At each end of this tubular center sill is a casting to which the center sill is rigidly attached, in a manner to be describe'd'more in detail hereinafter, this castingbeing formed to constitute a body bolster having outboard projections 12, a draft sill projection 13 and a center sill projection 14. The outboard projections 12 are provided with slabbing brackets15, on which is carried the slabbing 16 for supporting the tank 10. The draft sill projection 13 is provided with a space 17 to receive the draft gear and coupler shank, the draft gear being supported on a plate 18. The end casting is also provided with a king pin recess 19 and a cover plate 20. A frame in the usual manner may be extended out from the proj ections 12 and 13, as shown best in Fig. 3.

The specific form of the end casting will, of course, be changed to accord with the particular form of draft gear and coupler, and the particular form of'car body support with which my invention is used, and it will be understood that the arrangement shown and described is merely to indicate the character of the construction. I

The projection 14: on the end casting, as shown best in Fig.4, is preferably made cylindrical and is fitted into the interior of the end of the tube 11 with a shoulder 14 be-. tween the projection 14 and the remainder of the casting, and with the end of the tube 11 fitting snugly against this shoulder. Rivets or any other suitable fastening means may bebused to connect the projection 14 with the tu e 11.

general With the arrangement so far described, it

will be obvious that the two end body bolsters are connected by a tubular strut, which is not only cheaper than the usual built up center sill, but by the arrangement that I have shown is so connected to the body bolsters that the thrust from one to the other, due to shock, is transmitted directly to the tube itself through the shoulders on the end casting, and the rivets connecting the two members are not called on to stand any of this compression shock. The rivets, of

course, furnish ample connection for the pulling strains transmitted member 11.

In the illustrative arrangement, an anchor is provided to connect the tank to the center through the sill, and in the form shown in the drawings,

such anchor comprises what is, in effect, a split casting having a cylindrical portion surrounding the tubular center sill, and having a pad rivetedto the tank 10. This split casting is really made in two parts which,

for purposes of convenience,- I have desig' nated as the upper casting and the lower casting. The upper casting, in ;the form shown, has a pad 20 riveted to the tank 10, and a hollow, downwardly projecting portion 21, the casting being provided with a pair of discharge ducts or nozzles 22, one on either side of the casting. The upper casting is also provided-with projecting pads 23-23.

The lower portion of the split member has a cylinder portion 2 preferably riveted to the tubular sill 11, and is also provided with projecting pads 2525. The parts are so dimensioned that preferably there is a space between the pads 23 and 25, so that when the bolts 26 are passed through these pads the cylinder portion of the upper casting will be drawn down tightly against the tubular sill 11. Preferably, the cylindrical said bolts being the only connection between said upper casting and the sill.

9. A railroad tank car having a tubular center sill, an end casting at either end of the center sill and connected rigidly thereto, each of said castings having recesses for the king pin of the truck bolster and for the draft gear, and an anchor casting for the tank comprising an upper casting riveted to the tank, and having a cylindrical portion partially surrounding and resting on the center sill and a lower casting having a cylindrical portion partially surrounding the center sill below the cylindrical portion of the upper casting, and bolts to connect the two castings, said tank having a valve-controlled discharge opening above said upper casting and said upper casting having a discharge duct opening at the side of said casting, whereby the contents of the tank may be discharged when the discharge opening valve is opened.

10. A railroad tank car having a tubular center sill, an end casting at either end of the center sill and connected rigidly thereto, each of said castings having recesses for the king pin of the truck bolster and for the draft gear, and an anchor casting for the tank comprising an upper casting riveted to the tank, and having a cylindrical portion vpartlally surroundlng and restlng on the center sill and a lower casting having a cylindrical portion partially surrounding the center sill below the cylindrical portion of the upper casting, and bolts to connect the two castings, said tank having a valvecontrolled discharge opening above said upper casting and said upper casting having a discharge duct at each side of the casting and connected to said discharge opening, and a removable closure for each discharge duct.

ABRAM E. SMITH. 

